Quacks thrive in Delhi as officials look away court's guidelines

In five districts, only 12 "inspections" have been carried out in North
East Delhi (3), Shahadra (2), South East Delhi (2), North West Delhi (1) and New Delhi (4). The remaining five districts of Delhi have neither
seen "inspections" nor raids against quacks in the fourmonth period.

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Baishali Adak

New Delhi

September 28, 2014

UPDATED: September 28, 2014 12:04 IST

The Delhi High Court had issued notices to the Medical Council of India apart from other agencies last month to respond to the issue

The Delhi High Court had issued notices to the Medical Council of India apart from other agencies last month to respond to the issue

Three raids in last four months. The figure sums up the city government's lukewarm response to the Delhi High Court order on May 27 laying down guidelines for carrying out regular raids to deal with the menace of quacks.

Among the many guidelines, the high court had stated that at least one raid should be conducted in each of the 11 districts in Delhi every month. Going by the high court's order, there should have been 44 raids till September. But as per the data availed from the Delhi Medical Council (DMC), only three raids have been carried out so far in West Delhi alone.

In five districts, only 12 "inspections" have been carried out in North East Delhi (3), Shahadra (2), South East Delhi (2), North West Delhi (1) and New Delhi (4). The remaining five districts of Delhi have neither seen "inspections" nor raids against quacks in the fourmonth period.

Worse, there has been not a single meeting between the main agencies - the Delhi Medical Council and the Directorate of Health Services - since the court order came in May. Earlier, the chief district medical officer (CDMO) along with some officers would raid a centre after receiving complaint against a quack. Certificates were checked and their copies forwarded to the Delhi Medical Council, the Delhi Bharatiya Chikitsa Parishad, the Board of Homeopathic Medicine and the Delhi Dental Council for verifying the authenticity of the documents.

Police action was initiated against quacks found with fake documents. "To cut this process short, the high court asked us to form a team, including the CDMO, a representative of the Indian System of Medicine, a member from each of the four boards and a local policeman to raid and ascertain the credentials of a doctor on the spot. Unfortunately, the order has had the opposite effect.

Now nobody is accountable to ensure that at least one raid is conducted in each district every month, as ordered," Chairman of the DMC's Anti-Quackery cell, Dr Anil Bansal said.

The court had also directed that every beat constable must visit the clinics in his area, note down the registration numbers of the doctors and pass the information for verification. "I have repeatedly requested officials in the Directorate of Health Services (DHS) for meetings to plan the raids but got no response so far," Dr Bansal complained.

When MAIL TODAY contacted Director of DHS, Dr S. K. Sharma, he retorted, "I have got only one such request from DMC, and have promised to organize a meeting as soon as possible".